Scientists Drained Niagara Falls in 1969 And Made an Amazing Discovery | Bright Planet

Niagara Falls without water, 1969 For six months in 1969 North Americas most iconic waterfall was purposely “de-watered”. This was done by the US army corps of engineers, because they wanted to conduct a geological survey of the falls’ rock face. They were concerned that it was becoming too destabilized from erosion. In order to do this the army had to built a 600ft (182 m) dam across the Niagara River. This dam consisted of 27,800 tons of rock. In November 1969 in front of 2,650 spectators, the

ENGINEERS DRAINED NIAGARA FALLS In 1969, engineers did the unthinkable when they shut off the American Falls, one of the three waterfalls of Niagara. By diverting the river with a temporary dam, they exposed the dry riverbed for several months. The goal was to study erosion, which has always been the driving force behind Niagara’s retreat. The falls erode because soft shale beneath the hard limestone cap is constantly worn away, causing massive rock collapses. Engineers and geologists wanted to